Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramun (2023) Episode 9

Episode 9 of Arthdal Chronicles season 2 starts with Nunbyeol showing off her neanthal roots, charging at Tagon with a knife. He more than holds his own against her shocking speed, and the two square off. However, just before she hits the killing blow, Prince Arok shows up and stabs Nunbyeol in the back. She turns menacingly, confronting the child, with Tagon pleading with her to stop. This brings back memories of her painful past.

Down in the town square, chaos erupts as Saya and his men are surrounded by Tagon’s loyal guards. It seems there is no way out for them. Chaeeun is the wildcard here though, as she rushes to the temple. When she does, she sees Nunbyeol in the middle of the carnage and encourages her to leave, telling her soldiers are coming. And just like that, they show up and hold Chaeeun up at swordpoint.

Nunbyeol is way too quick for them though and she dispatches all the soldiers quickly and grabs Chaeeun, heading outside. As they do, the King is tended to by the maids, who encourage him to rest. Tagon refuses, pointing out he has much to do. 30% of the rebels have been killed and 20% captured, with Saya among those who has been taken in alive. The Queen’s position in all this is precarious, but she talks to Arok and tells him that she will never die.

While this is going on, Tanya gives Yangcha a reason to leave, coming in the form of delivering Eunseom something valuable. She wants to fight Tagon but knows that Yangcha is going to die if he sticks around, so she’s trying to get him out and do the valiant thing.

Saya is brought before Tagon in the banquet hall. Tagon shows off the vial of poison the queen had in her possession, and tells him there’s one way he can survive this. If he takes the iron sword and stabs Tanya, then he’ll be allowed to stay. Saya refuses and takes the poison instead.

He bemoans that they’re both fake and tells him that the real Aramun is coming, that being Eunseom. This explains why he tried to touch the sword before, to see if he had the power and was the chosen one. Saya promises that he will die by his hands, and retorts that Tagon needs to remember his face.

Meanwhile, Eunseom and the others are hard at work at the castle, cutting down the meteorite and smelting it into weapons they can use for the conflict ahead. In the midst of this, Eunseom figures out who the spy is in camp – it’s Suhana. She’s been fooling them all this time and working with Arthdal.

She’s been doing this for nearly 30 years, back when she first got married and became an elder. She’s been duping them this entire time and feeding back their plans to Tagon. As she laughs hysterically, Eunseom has her locked up.

Back in Arthdal, Tanya is shocked to learn Saya is dead when Tagon shows up and begins gloating. He also discusses how far Eunseom has come in his campaign to overthrow Arthdal. After, Tagon calls a war counsel and decides to press on with making more weapons and squashing Eunseom and his troops once and for all.

However, there’s a curveball here. It turns out the poison the queen had for Saya wasn’t a complete death sentence after all. With his body stashed atop a mountain, ready for the crows to pick at it, scouts head up to see him.

At the same time, Yangcha shows up at camp. Eunseom greets him and there’s also a note regarding Niruha too. However, he’s locked up in the same cell as Suhana. She’s shocked to learn that he’s a rebel and even more so when he learns of his affection for Tanya. This is enough for Suhana to open up and tell Eunseom what she knows. The reason stems from the fact that Yangcha is her son and she’d do anything for him.

Suhana points out the upcoming ambush and what Tagon intends to do, including fighting through the forest. Tagon himself is going to lead the ambush in, which gives them the advantage. With this valuable knowledge, the tribe decide to ambush the soldiers and catch them unawares.

The stragglers from the Momo Tribe, including Karat, are slaughtered by Tagon and the other troops while this is happening. This is nothing compared to Eunseom and his band of rebels, who all show up and surround the troops, slaughtering the soldiers with their new iron swords.

Tagon calls for a retreat and he manages to slip away. A fatally wounded Karat staggers forward. Before he gets a chance to explain, the rebels realize they’ve been led into a trap of their own out in the open. A whole bunch of soldiers at the Dalrae Plains are lying in wait and ready to strike. They knew Tagon would manage to flush them out into the open and now, with them exposed, they’ve fallen for Tagon’s cunning plan again.

As Karat passes away, Eunseom remains determined to pass the hill and save their comrades from certain doom. Eunseom comes out on horseback and charges into battle. Tagon watches from afar, shocked as Inaishingi joins the fray, and more importantly, sports Saya’s face.

Tagon is beside himself with anger and he rushes at Eunseom, determined to knock him off his horse. As he does, Eunseom turns to attack. The pair tumble down and end up face to face.

The Episode Review

Poor Eunseom, he and the tribe continue to fall hook, line and sinker for these traps Tagon has laid. It’s a miracle they’re even still surviving up until this point!

However, it looks like the final fight is now upon us, alongside the prophetic message from Saya before he passed around Tagon dying by the hands of someone sporting his face. But is Saya really dead? There was a good deal of chatter here about the poison and it could well be that this poison has an antidote, or at least something that brings him back so the three children of the prophecy can continue to fulfill their part to play in all this.

The drama in Arthdal has finally spilled outside the town walls now, and the ending hints that the final 3 episodes are going to crescendo into this final fight for Arthdal and the kingdom itself. Who will come out on top? We’ll have to wait and see!